Gronk and Bucs had discussions this season about another return

How close did Gronk and the Bucs come to a reunion? Tampa Bay had recent discussions about a comeback but it never materialized.

The Bucs are working on clinching the NFC South and a playoff berth despite their disappointing 6-8 record this season.

Tom Brady always gives Tampa Bay a chance to do something interesting in the postseason, but the team might have gotten an injection of optimism if conversations between the Bucs and tight end Rob Gronkowski had gone differently.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Bucs “had several conversations with Gronkowski around Thanksgiving.” The tight end contacted them about the possibility of coming out of retirement to join the team for the playoff push.

However, nothing came of those discussions as Gronk opted to stay retired.

Gronk and the Bucs talked about a comeback around Thanksgiving

“It was more of a conversation than anything else,” head coach Todd Bowles told reporters. “Usually, when you have to think about playing, you probably don’t want to play. When it’s just a discussion, I didn’t think much of it at the time.”

The report from the Times cited Gronk being “bored” as a reason for him considering unretiring again. He stirred up even more speculation on that front recently with a tweet that plainly said, “I’m kinda bored.”

At 32 years old in 2021, Gronk caught 55 passes for 802 yards and six touchdowns. Cade Otton, the team’s top tight end has 37 catches for 357 yards so far this season.

There’s little doubt that if Gronkowski got into football shape he could contribute to the Bucs and their playoff aspirations.

He’s running out of time on this season though. If he had made the choice at Thanksgiving he’d probably already be ready to go full speed. If he decided to come back today he’d have about three weeks to get ready for the playoffs, assuming Tampa Bay held on to win the division. They could use his help for that in the first place.